A retired Highland teacher has praised the “superb” staff at online retail giant Amazon – after winning a year-long battle with the firm over a mysterious order for a dozen pairs of trainers.
Donald Gunn MacDonald, the former head teacher of Newtonmore Primary School, was shocked to discover in April last year that £1,200 worth of sports shoes had been ordered from his account.
The 66-year-old finally managed to resolve the problem earlier this month – after turning up on the “doorstep” of the company’s Dunfermline depot to demand answers.
Mr MacDonald, a former Conservative candidate at Scottish and European elections, said his victory in the long-running wrangle proved the benefits of being able to speak to workers face-to-face.
“I woke up one morning and my wife questioned why I had bought another gadget. She came in with a box of electronic gadgets which turned out to be a freeview receiver. he said.
“I had no idea about it. I assured her I hadn’t bought anything like that.
“I went on to Amazon and my account and my orders, and saw that I had ordered the receiver but as well as that, I had ordered 12 pairs of separate and different types of sports shoes.
“I went into the orders and stopped what I could and then phoned my Visa account and stopped the transactions, but unfortunately some of them had already been dispatched – not dispatched to me, but a London address.
“I went back to Amazon – and this where the problem lies with Amazon – you go to customer services and then get transferred to very nice people in the Philippines.”
Mr MacDonald said the customer service staff were polite, but refused to back down on the £700 part of the order which he had not managed to stop.
“It went on and on and on. I was worried that my credit rating could be affected by having a £700 debt for more than a year.
“Then, we were passing the big Amazon warehouse and I decided, as I had time on my hands, I would doorstep Amazon,” he said.
After waiting at the door in the cold for half-an-hour, Mr MacDonald was eventually able to speak to a senior member of the dispatch team, who in turn contacted at senior manager.
His debt was wiped within a day, and Mr MacDonald has now written to the company to thank them.
“It just shows you, don’t give up. Keep going and don’t let them get you down,” he said.